Australian Wool Prices Spike

The price of Australian wool has bounced back after a 20-year lull due to global demand, experts said on Tuesday [1 August 2017]. Wool farmers are benefiting from the best prices for their product in two decades with market analysts tipping that the market would remain strong…Full Article: ECNS.cn Aug 2017

Key Points

From July 2016 to June 2017, Australia produced 341,000 MTs of wool, of which 75% [~255,750 MTs] was exported to China.

In early 2017, the price of wool increased by 10% to USD 12.07 per kg.

ChinaAg Comments

In October 2014, China’s Ministry of Commerce noted that import quota for wool would remain at 287,000 MTs. The import quota for wool tops (i.e. semi-processed wool that is ready for spinning) would be 80,000 MTs.

In August 2014, Olam International announces it was shuttering their wool export division in Australia (Queensland Cotton) owing to poor profit margins and diminishing demand from China.

In March 2014, a senior Australian wool trader stated that China has been purchasing wool in good quantities for the past 3-4 years, but orders have slowed recently and has become “sluggish”.

From 2010 to 2013, Chinese (mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau) imports of wool (not card/combed, HS 5101) increased from 316,148 MTs to 347,329 MTs. In 2013, the largest supplier was Australia at 181,660 MTs, followed by New Zealand at 68,207 MTs. The next largest suppliers were South Africa, the UK, and Uruguay.